Fishing in Colorado
Northern pike and tiger muskie in Colorado
The very different statewide limits, fish identification, legal methods, named-water rules, and live-fish restrictions.
Two different limits
Unlimited pike does not mean unlimited muskie
Northern pike
The statewide chart lists northern pike as unlimited for daily bag and possession. A named water can still set a different rule.
Tiger muskie
The statewide rule is one per day and one in possession, and the fish must be at least 36 inches long.
No guessing
When identification or length is uncertain, release the fish into the same water instead of treating it as an unlimited pike.
Identification
Look at the pattern on the fish
Northern pike
CPW describes a dark green back and lighter green sides with bean-shaped light spots.
Tiger muskie
Tiger muskie have darker tiger-like bars on a lighter body and more rounded tail and fin lobes.
Teeth are not enough
Both are long, toothy fish. Use the body pattern, fins, length, and a current identification source.
A Colorado method rule
Northern pike have a broader statewide take method
Ordinary angling
Both fish may be caught with an attended fishing line under the statewide and named-water rules.
Pike by bow or spear
CPW allows underwater spearfishing, archery, slingbows, and gigs for northern pike statewide unless the brochure or land manager prohibits the method.
Tiger muskie are different
The statewide alternative-method permission names northern pike, not tiger muskie. Another fish needs a specific named-water authorization.
After the catch
Do not move a live fish to another water
A released fish must go back alive into the same body of water where it was caught. Transporting a live fish without the proper permit is prohibited.
Take this with you
Before you keep or release a pike-shaped fish
- ✓ You can distinguish northern pike from tiger muskie.
- ✓ You searched the exact water for a stricter rule.
- ✓ A tiger muskie keeper is at least 36 inches long.
- ✓ Any released fish goes back promptly into the same water.
Official sources and review
Check the current rule before you act
These links go to the agencies that control this part of the trip. Use the exact page, license, listing, map, order, or confirmation for your situation.
Use this carefully: Unlimited is only the statewide northern-pike default. Named waters can be stricter, and tiger muskie have a separate one-fish, 36-inch rule.
Keep going
More about fishing in Colorado
Trout fishing
The statewide trout limit, named-water exceptions, brook trout, protected cutthroat, legal lines, and the rules to check before keeping a fish.
Kokanee and snagging
Ordinary kokanee angling, the narrow snagging exception, statewide limits, fish identification, and the named-water rules that control the season.
Walleye, saugeye, and sauger
The shared statewide limit, the eastern drainage exception, named-water size rules, identification, and ordinary fishing methods.
Bass, catfish, and panfish
Statewide warm-water limits, shared species groups, western and eastern exceptions, named-water sizes, and fish identification.
Bait and live bait
Where ordinary bait is allowed, why chumming is illegal, and how elevation, the Continental Divide, source water, and receipts affect live baitfish.
Ice fishing
Fishing licenses, tip-ups, second rods, hole size, shelters, fires, exact-water rules, and a calm check on changing ice.
Licenses and limits
Who should check for a Colorado fishing license, how statewide limits work, and why the exact water listing matters before you keep a fish.
Where to fish
How to use the CPW Fishing Atlas, find public access, and check the bank, streambed, parking, and land-manager rules for a Colorado fishing spot.
Rules for the exact water
How to read Colorado's special fishing regulations for a named lake or river stretch, including methods, closures, limits, and release rules.
Boats and Clean, Drain, Dry
The Colorado checks for boat registration, aquatic nuisance species stamps, inspections, launches, and cleaning gear between waters.